This invention relates to electrode materials useful in secondary lithium batteries.
Two classes of materials have been proposed as anodes for secondary lithium batteries. One class includes materials such as graphite and carbon which are capable of intercalating lithium. While the intercalation anodes generally exhibit good cycle life and coulombic efficiency, their capacity is relatively low. A second class includes metals that alloy with lithium metal. Although these alloy-type anodes generally exhibit higher capacities relative to intercalation-type anodes, they suffer from relatively poor cycle life and coulombic efficiency.